NORTHFIELD, Ill. -- Emily Miller remembers learning about Title IX during history class, probably sometime in junior high. She's a little fuzzy on the details, including how and why it came about.

Every time she steps on the soccer field, though, she feels its effect.

At 16, Miller can't even imagine who she'd be without the game. She's played since kindergarten, and credits soccer for her independence and self-confidence. Now a starter on the varsity team at New Trier High School in suburban Chicago, she's proud when someone describes her as "the athlete" or "the soccer player."

"Soccer," she said, "is what makes me Emily Miller."

As Title IX celebrates its 40th anniversary Saturday, the WNBA is in its 16th season, Hope Solo and Natalie Coughlin will be two of the biggest names at the London Olympics and participation numbers for women in college and high school athletics are at an all-time high. But perhaps the greatest legacy of the legislation originally intended to prohibit discrimination in education is found in Miller and the hundreds of thousands of girls like her: a generation of young women growing up strong and self-assured because of their participation in sports. A generation for whom sports is so ingrained in their lives, they can't fathom being on the sidelines.

A generation for whom Title IX is ancient history, if they remember it at all.

"That's the way it should be," said former Sen. Birch Bayh, who co-authored and sponsored Title IX. "It should be a given. That's what we were trying to accomplish."

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"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance" - Title IX

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The words "sports" or "athletics" are not even mentioned in Title IX. At a time when women earned 9 percent of all medical degrees and just 7 percent of law degrees, Bayh and the other Title IX supporters were simply hoping to provide more opportunities for women in higher education, give them a better shot at higher-paying jobs.

"It was clear that the greatest danger or damage being done to women was the inequality of higher education," said Bayh, whose late wife, Marvella, had once been rejected by the University of Virginia. "If you give a person an education, whether it's a boy or girl, young woman or young man, they will have the tools necessary to make a life for families and themselves."

But just as admissions numbers and financial aid fell under the broad definition of "education program," so, too, did athletics.

"Sport is an educational opportunity. You learn about yourself and the world through sport," said Angela Ruggiero, president-elect of the Women's Sports Foundation and a member of the 1998 U.S. team that won the first Olympic gold medal in women's ice hockey.

It wouldn't be enough for schools to tack sign-up sheets on a bulletin board and count that as a team, or clear out a storage closet and call it a locker room. Title IX law called for equal opportunity to play, and that meant schools had to offer scholarships and provide the same access to equipment, coaching and facilities.

Students from James Madison University participate in a "Run for Fairness," during a rally outside the Education Department in Washington, Nov. 2, 2006. RON EDMONDS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Assembly Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, said that the 1972 federal law had come at the expense of male athletes, during commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, by the state Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento on May 14. AP PHOTO
Soccer star Brandi Chastain, grimaces over the remarks made by Assembly Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, during commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, by the state Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento May 14. Norby said that while he supports equality in sports, that he believed faulty court interpretations or federal enforcement of Title IX has led to the abolition of many males sports. RICH PEDRONCELLI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In a May 22 photo, Aly Marzonie prepares for a game in the Illinois High School Association girls' soccer tournament in Skokie, Ill. Marzonie, a graduating senior, is an outgoing captain of the New Trier High School girls soccer team in Chicago's north suburbs. Girls like those on the New Trier soccer team are reaping the benefits of Title IX, the federal amendment that opened up sports opportunities to girls and women 40 years ago. But some say there's still more progress to be made for girls in sports. MARTHA IRVINE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks about the empowering women and girls through a sports initiative, and marks the kick-off of the 40th anniversary of Title IX June 6, 2011, at the State Department in Washington. AP PHOTO

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